Memorial Day Reflection

Today's Memorial Day. I'm sorry to say that most Memorial Days have been busy with family reunions where there was a lot of fried chicken, potato salad and desserts...all home made! In those days, we burnt off the calories chasing cousins and being general nuisances. As I grew older and moved away from the extended family and the reunions, I think I've been more preoccupied on Memorial Day weekend with the Indy 500. For years I would travel back to Indianapolis to see it whether I was living in Texas, California, Colorado, etc. It always fascinated me.

My first "500" was in 1959. Jack Bradham brought the first rear engine car to the track and suffered many cat calls for trying to usurp the great Offenhauser machine. However, within 5 years, the sleek Lotus of Colin Chapman changed Indy forever. Jim Hurtubise and a few other good ol' boys tried mightily to get the front engine cars back as winners, but it just didn't happen. The only sorrow I felt about it is that nothing sounded like those front engine cars. When they went by on the pace lap, it would shake the drilling's in your teeth.

I was in my early 20's then and needless to say, the month of May in Indianapolis was "party time!" I had the happy opportunity to go to several parties where some of the drivers and crew would drop in. I was completely awed by A. J. Foyt and Parnelli Jones, but the guy who I thought was the most charming was Jimmy Clark. The quiet Scotsman optimized the European Formula car drivers with their amazing dedication and professionalism. Now that isn't to say our drivers didn't have those qualities, it's just you never felt they really took it seriously enough to monitor their party time or their health. They wanted to win the "500," but in those days, it didn't appear much time was spent working out or being sober the night before the race.

Over the years, as more foreign drivers came to the "500," it would appear their work habits changed the American drivers in a positive way. Competition was keen and each driver would try and figure out what their team could do better to put them in the winner's circle and drink the allotted quart of milk! I think all drivers began to think of their responsibility as part of the business and maybe the "500" lost some of its innocence and fun. Until this "500," I felt the race had lost some of its luster, but no one could watch that race yesterday without feeling all the highs and lows of tremendous competition. And, the interesting thing was, the top three finishers were all American! That's a change!

So, my thoughts during most Memorial Days have not been spent in much reflection about what the Holiday means. I know I teared up when taps were played while I was at the track or even watching on TV the last 20 years, but today as I was coming back from a friend's home in Donelson, I made a turn on Gallatin Road and drove to the National Cemetery in Madison, TN. I parked the car, got out and looked at the overwhelming row upon row of solitary white crosses.

Recently I've been doing some genealogy research on a Revolutionary War ancestor of mine so in this setting, I began to think about him risking his life to go against the King in order for us to have our Independence. How much these people gave up for our freedom! Just think how hard it must have been to be a "traitor" to the flag they were raised by.

Then it occurred to me, what about the soldiers of the Civil War? Although we usually think that Kentucky or Tennessee soldiers would be fighting for the Confederacy, it simply wasn't true. Many soldiers from those states fought for the Union and many, many times these boys would be fighting against their own kin! Think how difficult that may have been to preserve our unity!

It didn't take much effort to then consider those brave soldiers in WWI & WWII to risk life and limb to fight evil in foreign countries. Think about that! They shipped off to foreign lands to fight against tyranny for people who weren't even Americans! But, we believed then that it was critical to do everything possible to uphold freedom and support democracy. We continued to make that commitment in Korea and Viet Nam, however, some began to question the integrity of our participation in Viet Nam. Veterans were jeered and even spit upon when they returned! They were treated as disgraced citizens by some of the over-the-top dissident minority. The media gave them all the publicity and though the majority of our citizens didn't agree with this outrage, they did nothing to stop it or reinforce our gratefulness for the soldiers dedication. It was shameful!

When we were hit at home in 2000, there was a rally cry and our country came together to track down those evil Muslim fundamentalist killers. We supported the invasion of Afghanistan and provided that country freedom from the deadly Taliban that allowed Al Qaeda to train and grow to follow their evil pursuits of overturning any democracy. Do we still not understand that they are determined to kill every Jew and/or any Gentile that does not subscribe to their pathological teaching?

Our government had intelligence that the next hot spot in the Middle East was Iraq. There was substantiating evidence presented that convinced our government and nine other countries to invade Iraq to overturn Saddam. Subsequently, we found this "intelligence" was not what was purported, but since we were already there, we chose to capture Saddam, hold him and his henchmen for all of the torture and injustice he perpetuated on his countrymen for decades as well as his insidious involvement in plots against other governments. The big mistake was not having a thought out plan on how to restore or create the essence of a democratic government. There was a huge glitch in not understanding the culture and underestimating the insurgency engineered by Al Qaeda.

However, our soldiers have once again laid down their lives for freedom of others and protection of ours. A democratic government is evolving slowly in Iraq and if the Iraqi's make a commitment to democracy, they will eventually get it. I think the jury is still out about whether or not our participation has been effective and warranted the death of almost 2500 soldiers for the freedom of millions of Iraqi's. The one good news about this war is how our people are responding clearly and loudly in support of our troops. Even our most defiant celebrities have contributed their time and risked their lives by visiting our soldiers in Iraq. There has been overwhelming personal financial support by many of our citizens to build a state of art healing center for those soldiers gravely injured in this war.

When I think what these guys and gals have done for us from the Revolution to Iraq, my eyes fill with tears and my heart swells with gratefulness. I am so proud to have had the luck to be an American and I shall remember them every day and not just on Memorial Day. How 'bout you?